Oliver Brinsley, 35, was made redundant in March, just as the world was waking up to the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic.
The British former consultancy manager quickly arranged a few interviews, and his chances of securing a new role appeared to be good.
But when the full force of the outbreak became apparent, and travel restrictions quickly followed, he found his job opportunities were put on hold.
Many others began to lose their jobs as companies across the globe buckled under the strain of a new economic reality.
Suddenly, the job market became much more crowded. And with a surge in numbers came an inevitable increase in competition.
What I would say is, take a week out. Just sit down and go through your CV. Really try to understand what you want to do next
“I think what you have to do is first of all, is don’t panic,” said David Mackenzie, group managing director for recruitment firm Mackenzie Jones.
“What I would say is, take a week out. Just sit down and go through your CV. Really try to understand what you want to do next."
Mr Mackenzie said in his experience, the first thing many people made redundant tended to do was to email all their contacts to ask for assistance.
He warned against the idea, claiming pausing for thought and working out a proper strategy was a far better bet.
“What you have done [by emailing everyone] is you have blanketed your inbox and you have swiftly become like everyone else who has asked the same question,” he said.
"But there is no depth to your question. Don’t email anyone. Don’t call them about jobs. Understand what you enjoy about your job.”
Mr Mackenzie said a better approach to finding a new job was to begin making a list of suitable companies to target.
He advised against including the biggest multinationals, such as Google or Apple, because so many potential employees would have the same thought.
“If you are HR person, pick the top 20 companies you want to work for, go onto LinkedIn, find the heads of HR, the chief executives, and don’t write to them and say you want a job, write to them and say I really admire your company,” said Mr Mackenzie.
“Say, ‘I like what you have been doing with this project’. Mention something to show you understand what they have been doing.”
Jobseekers should also make sure their LinkedIn profile is up to date and fits the description of roles they are interested in, he said.
Contacting relevant recruitment agencies was also a good idea, but not just by submitting a CV.
“Send an email and say: 'Hi David, things have taken a turn',” Mr Mackenzie said.
“'I am very keen to get your advice on the market. Do you have five minutes when I can just call you?' Don’t attach your CV, because that’s a different approach. I would probably give that person my number.”
The way people present their CV is also crucial, said Claire Donnelly of MHC Consulting, which trains executives in management in Dubai.
“As a HR person, I get that many CVs, I literally look at what I can see on my screen, which is the top half of an A4 piece of paper,” Ms Donnelly said.
“It needs to be something super catchy. They need to have a really good strapline, but it needs to be short, that encapsulates them and what they can bring to the business.
“And what I want to be able to see on that first line is who they work for and what they achieved in that place. It’s all got to be positive, not a cut-and-pasted job description.”
Recruiters also emphasised the importance of being visible on LinkedIn as firms often actively recruited through the site. Building a relationship with employment agencies was essential, too.
“The ones [employees] we place are the ones we have kept in contact with over the last couple of years or the last couple of months, and built a relationship with us,” Mr Mackenzie said.
Mr Brinsley, who is from the UK, was general manager of a consultancy that helped businesses to set up in the Emirates, securing licences and providing accounting. He found himself out of work due to a downturn in the economy and when the business merged with another firm.
He has applied for a number of new positions via LinkedIn, although many firms had not responded.
Since then, he has worked to establish relationships with recruiters that could help to him secure a role.
“It does look like there will be a positive outcome,” he said. “I’m just waiting on a couple of other meetings I’m going to have.
"I hope when this article goes to press I might have something more solid.”
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Results
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What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
The Energy Research Centre
Founded 50 years ago as a nuclear research institute, scientists at the centre believed nuclear would be the “solution for everything”.
Although they still do, they discovered in 1955 that the Netherlands had a lot of natural gas. “We still had the idea that, by 2000, it would all be nuclear,” said Harm Jeeninga, director of business and programme development at the centre.
"In the 1990s, we found out about global warming so we focused on energy savings and tackling the greenhouse gas effect.”
The energy centre’s research focuses on biomass, energy efficiency, the environment, wind and solar, as well as energy engineering and socio-economic research.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
500 People from Gaza enter France
115 Special programme for artists
25 Evacuation of injured and sick
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Aaron Finch, Matt Renshaw, Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (captain), Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Jon Holland, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
SPEC SHEET
Display: 10.9" Liquid Retina IPS, 2360 x 1640, 264ppi, wide colour, True Tone, Apple Pencil support
Chip: Apple M1, 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Memory: 64/256GB storage; 8GB RAM
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, Smart HDR
Video: 4K @ 25/25/30/60fps, full HD @ 25/30/60fps, slo-mo @ 120/240fps
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR, Centre Stage; full HD @ 25/30/60fps
Audio: Stereo speakers
Biometrics: Touch ID
I/O: USB-C, smart connector (for folio/keyboard)
Battery: Up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi; up to 9 hours on cellular
Finish: Space grey, starlight, pink, purple, blue
Price: Wi-Fi – Dh2,499 (64GB) / Dh3,099 (256GB); cellular – Dh3,099 (64GB) / Dh3,699 (256GB)
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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